Jobless Wanderers; Thailand, Laos & Cambodia Tour 2011.

[nikhuzlan]

( From Wikipedia )

Laos (English pronunciation: i/ˈlaʊs/, /ˈlɑː.oʊs/, or /ˈleɪ.ɒs/)[4][5][6] Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be 6.8 million in 2009.[1]

Laos traces its history to the Kingdom which existed from the 14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms, Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, Kingdom of Vientiane and Kingdom of Champasak, uniting to form what is now known as Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1954, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.

( end Wikipedia )

We had high expectations of adventure in Laos, tempered by slight fear of the unknown as we have never entered Laos before. and the route I planned will take us through roads seldom travelled by other adventurers. Normally entry is via Chiang Khong or Nong Kai into Vientiane. Chaloem Prakiat is not a common entry point as it was just recently upgraded to International Border crossing point. Previously it was just an entry point for Lao and Thais.

Laos is still largely underdeveloped. The capital city is Vientiane. Other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Pakse. It has opened up its borders to tourists just 5-6 years ago, and now, tourism has become a big money making industry. The countryside is dotted with Karst landscape, with vertical sloped limestone escarpments rising to 3000ft. While the Mekong is muddy brown, the other rivers in Laos are pristine, with emerald green waters. With just 7 million people, and 50% concentrated in the three big towns, the country, which is bigger than Peninsula Malaysia has a very sparsely populated countryside.

The air is mostly clear, although we were unlucky to encounter haze due to slash and burn agriculture.

More on Laos in the next part.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011

Today we go into Laos. Today is a little suspenseful as neither of us have ridden into Laos, but both aware of the horror stories at the border.
Besides, we are going in an entry point that's less known. Most use Chiang Khong.

There's also the issue of fuel. We do not know where the pumps are. We are also unsure of the quality of roads near the border.

So we left Nan a little anxiously.

We rode by this strange looking but standardised buildings. We have seen it elsewhere. Maybe its for grain storage...

We expected poor roads, but it turned out some of the sections are surprisingly nice.

Somewhere near the border I saw this Temple thingy so I rode up for a picture.

After another 20kms we stopped at this Guardpost. The GPS showed the road we are to follow is ahead,
but the soldiers told us to take the gravel road instead.

Thankfully it was dry.

Ivan on his GSA

A hut out of nowhere. Probably a lay bye. Where i come from, landowners build some form of shade for those travelling on foot so they can rest.

The road to the Border post at Chaloem Prakiat is made up of broken tarmac strewn with pebbles.
There were also steep inclines so there was no time for photos.

The Border Post.

While we were awaiting paperwork processing, we saw two trucks laden with hardwood. Smuggling perhaps?

We did not know it then but we require a Certificate of Conveyance issued by the Thais to enter Laos.
Our first attempt to enter Laos was denied so we had to turn back to get the Cert.

Finally

We left Thailand after about one hour of CIQ Process. It was surprisingly simple, and we only tipped one officer there
Bhat100 for the filling up of two forms. We rode past the Thai Gates, onto the patch of 500metres of no-man's land,
switching over to the other side of the road as the Laos CIQ Complex to appear.

We parked just before the Lao Guardpost, the young soldier there insisting we recognise his importance by telling us
in detail how our bikes should be parked. He hints that not listening to him may result in denial of entry. I nodded respectfully.

As we approach the Lao Complex, these containers/offices are spotted parked by the side of the road. They offer local vehicle insurance services.

We bought one each.

This is the Customs and Immigration Building of Laos. It took us 20 minutes to clear the Laos side.

As we were ready to go I noticed fluid seeping out of Ivan's bikes, around the rear axle. As we were entering Laos,
this little leak caused us some concern, but since it did not look serious, we rode anyway.

We rolled into Laos at 1400hrs, glad to be on the GS with its plush ride on roads made of broken tarmac.
After 4kms we arrived at a junction, which unfortunately has a signboard written in Lao. Our GPS was blank,
and roads appears near Oudom Xai, 130km away. But I know from Phil that there is a road that goes from Hongsa to Luang Prabang,
but its mostly dirt. We decided to turn left instead and head for Pak Beng, 40 kms away. Although there was no map in the GPS,
we felt secure riding the nicely paved road when we saw the milestones.

The nice road gave way to still nice unsurfaced road after 20kms.

The slash and burn activities were very obvious. We rode through two or three sections that were flaming and one
was big enough to warrant a picture.

The road came to an abrupt end at the banks of the 'Mighty' Mekong, which does not look very mighty for some reason.
I walked down the sandy ramp to the ferry and got a deal to bring us across for USD12.

Ivan rides his GSA down to the ferry.

Happy moment crossing the Mekong.

The crossing took all of 15 minutes.

After climbing a steep incline we were delighted to be greeted with this deserted road, probably laid less than 3 months ago.
We still have no GPS road guidance although we had the Mekong showing on our right.
The milestone kept saying Pak Beng so we kinda know we were heading the right direction.
We also know that we need to sleep at Pak Beng as we were unsure how long it would take to get to the next big town of Oudom Xai.

This went on for miles........

And to no surprise, as always around here, good roads gives no indication of what lies ahead.
Gravel Time.

After about 3 kms on gravel i noticed the right side of the road edge is fenced for about 1 KM.
Standing up I caught a glimpse of what looked like an exclusive resort set on the banks of the Mekong.
We saw a small gate, just enough to let the GS go in with little room to spare.

We found out that this is the LuangSay Resort, a high end exotic resort set on the banks of the Mekong,
with most of the guests coming in by the resort's own boat that sails from Luang Prabang to Vientiane.
I went in looked at the rooms and told Ivan " We stay here tonight ".

USD75 a night, a princely sum in Laos. We got a welcome drink. We got porters to take our things to the rooms.

We felt like Ewan and Charlie.

Our stuff being taken to the room.

My home for the night with Ivan's next door.

Mekong from my room.

Dinner was set by candlelight.

Part of the Resort, lit up agains the jungle.

Its been such a long time since I last slept in a mosqito net.

We covered about 160kms on our first day into Laos. So far things were okay but we still remained concerned the rear axle was still seeping oil.
The difference between Thailand and Laos is significant. Poor Infrastructure, poorer people. But the people seems happy and eversmiling and ready to help.

We look forward to Day 16 Tomorrow, when we will ride to Luang Prabang, a UN Heritage Town.

End Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011

 

[JFT63]

Keep us posted bro nik....have a safe trip

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 16, Thursday, 21april2011

I woke up to a dull morning, with no sunshine and an overcast sky.

Breakfast was great. We met Mary, an English pensioner. She was travelling alone, touring Laos.
She arrived by boat from Chiang Khong and will be taking a Van to Luang Prabang.
She will eventually end up in Sydney where her two Grandaughters will be waiting.

I walked down to the banks of the Mighty Mekong. I expected more as the river was not extraordinarily wide.
I assume this river to be very deep as its reputed to move large volumes of water.

Probably the best mode of transportation for this family.

As we prepared to leave, the Hotel boat heads for Luang Prabang, an 8 hour journey.

Leaving Luang Say Resort.

Just 10 kms from our luxury resort we rode through very rural Laos.

Plenty of fertiliser on the road. The air is heavy with the smell of cow dung. Its ok with me because I grew up in the kampong.

This must be the hous of a well to do villager; nice reddish zinc roof.

We spotted many kids returnng from school. All were very friendly, cheering and waving us on.

We played Santa Claus passing the kids menthos candies for them to chew on.

These are good children. Well behaved with lots of dignity, they lined up and take the sweets politely,
never asking for more.

Back on the road. We count onlt a handful of cars when we rode in this road.

Plenty of agriculture

We reached Oudom Xai by midday, and with the sky threatening to rain, we wanted to have lunch wnerever we can.
But neither of us remembered to get some Lao money so buying food from a rural roadside stall became impossible.
We spotted this big Chinese Restaurant and decided to try our luck there.
Luckily the owner, who is a Chinese from Kunming was happy enough to accomodate us.
He even took Ivan to look for a moneychanger.

After a quick lunch we moved on.

We got onto Highway 3, the main artery that connects Vientiane to Boten, the bordertown that is the entry point into China.
On the map the road looks like a Main Highway, but it looked so rural both of us were having doubts we were on the right road,
despite the GPS saying so.

The road was not too bad, although the surface would kill any bike other than a DP.
Bumpy with sharp stones alternating with broken tarmac, we were also fearful of ny sharp stones that may tear our tyre apart.

We passed through many one street towns.

Then tarmac disappeared altogether and brown earth covered the road surface.
With rainclouds threatening a downpour, i felt indescribable fear, morbid with worry in case the rain comes and
the smooth road becomes a river of mud.

After riding for an hour covering just 30kms, we stopped at this RnR looking for a drink and a toilet.
We got our drink, but found no toilet. We do not just want to go to the side of the road out of respect for the locals.
So while holding our bladders, some rich locals passed by in a Toyota Land Cruiser ( rare in Laos ) and stopped like we did.
They too were looking to go, but being locals, they just walked to the open space and pee'd. I promptly joined them.

Pigs were everywhere. They seem more macho and more hairy than the ones I've seen back home,
looking almost like a Wild Boar with no tusk.

This pig walked away in disgust after finding out this bike was a BMW, not a HOG.

After 30 minutes we headed to Pak Mong, crossroads to Luang Prabang to the South West, and the
Vietnam Border to the South East.

At Pak Mong we stopped for a break and I found this in my tyre. Luckily a tyre shop was nearby,
and I pushed my bike there in anticipation of a flat when I pulled the nail out. Luckily it was just the thread and
not the tyre carcass.

The remaining 110kms to Luang Prabang is just about the best roads Laos has to offer.
We made good progress and stopped twice to take pictures of the Nam Oui River, a tributary of the Mekong.

We reached Luang Prabang at 5pm, and went straight to a riverside cafe for a drink before we look for a place to stay in.

We found this nice Resthouse at USD26 per night. Nice clean rooms, albeit a little small.
They allowed bike parking in the courtyard so that's a plus point. Also means unloading the bike is just ten steps away.

Dinner was at this quaint restaurant serving genuine Lao food.

On our first day in Laos we covered 330kms. We started at 0800 and arrived 9 hours later.
I observed no more than 30-40 cars on the road throughout the whole journey from Pak Bent to Pak Mong.
Laos was also instantly a few degrees cooler than Thailand, although the elevation and latitude were the same.

Tomorrow will be our 17th day. We will resume riding after one day rest at Luang Prabang.
Time to give the riding suits a good wash.

End Day 16, Thursday, 21april2011

 

[enkil]

Awesome adventure indeed bro. keep it coming. This will be my inspiration one day when i have the time and a GS1200 of course hehe...

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 17, Friday, 22april2011

A City of 140,000 including the surrounding area, Luang Prabang is about 440kms from Vientiane.
This ancient capital of Laos was founded more than 1,500 years ago.
When Laos achieved independence, the king of Luang Prabang, Sisavang Vong, became the head of state for the Kingdom of Laos.
Luang Prabang has, throughout history , seen various forces passing through, from Regional Warlords to Vichy French in recent times.
Even the Khmers got a slice of the action in the 16th century.

Amongst the first cities to be given a UN Heritage status, Luang Prabang is untypically
Laos, with clean well maintained streets. The buildings and rest houses have an air of rustic calmness that does not seem contrived.
The kind of tourist in Luang Prabang is also a little different, the 'softer' non-backpacker types
with money can be seen toting DSLRs taking street pictures.
This is probably due to the better infrastructure which includes a proper airport that can even accomodate regional jets and turboprops.

Food is equal in price as upmarket Kuala Lumpur, which is expensive compared to what Laos has to offer.
A street sandwich goes for USD3.50 from a street vendor. Restaurant food is as pricey as Bangkok downtown rates.
I find Chiangmai cheaper than Luang Prabang. They prefer US Dollars here, pushing prices even higher.

We stayed here for two nights, and I took the chance to walk around town on the free day.

Breakfast at our guesthouse. Good wifi so we hung around here for a bit,

Market scene no different from the rest of Indo China.

Street vendor selling what looks like 'apam balik'

USD5 per shot. Cures all. Make man stronger. Make woman hungrier. Probably can stop a war.

Signs that amuse

The Blue House that's actually white.

Lunch by the Mekong

Pictures of guestshouses in Luang Prabang.

The obligatory Mekong sunset shot.....

As night falls the street market wakes up.

Food looks good, freshly cooked ready to eat.....

Adventurous 'farangs' street dining

We wanted to have supper here

Eventually we decided to have it here

Tomorrow its a short 200km ride to Vang Vieng,set amidst the Karst scenery, praying for good visibility....

end, Day 17, Friday, 22april2011

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 18, Saturday, 23april2011

Today we ride to Vang Vieng, reputed to be a backpackers' haven. We anticipate the road to be similar
to the stretch from Pak Mong to Luang Prabang, which is the best in Laos so far.
Leaving Luang Prabang the motel staff gathers for a picture with us.

GPS has got us everywhere but nothing can replace a hand drawn route note.

Beauty before safety

The initially nice roads became dusty after 20 kms. This stretch is probably being resurfaced so it will eventually be smooth.

This bus makes a 28 hour journey from Kunming to Vientiane regularly, carrying Chinese gamblers to the casinos in the capital city.

The road improves as it winds up a mountain range. The view would have been spectacular if the air was less hazy.

Humbly designed, these local panniers has equal volume as our hi-tech Touratech ones.

We stopped for a breather after 45 minutes, enjoying the greenery.

Picture time ; Ivan

Me

At about 1000 meters in height the air is cooler here, even in summer.

We passed by a few villages.

We rode on the road below moments ago.

School's out

Candies for the kids.....such friendly children.....

Huts and homes of very happy people.

Not quite a holiday home.....

For this little village, all form of asssistance helps make a better life.

Back on the road, we head for Phou Khoun, our planned lunch stop.
The 'town' is also the at the crossroads to Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars.

Just bikin' beautiful. In 10 years a Harley Ultra will be able to do ths on an even better road surface.

Phou Khoun

We eat here.

We met Paulo, an Italian on a DR400. He shipped his bike to Thailand and will do Russia after this.

After an hour dining on Cup Noodles, we moved on towards Vang Vieng.

We passed the view point where thare was a restaurant but we did not stop there as the hazy skies made
the stop meaningless. The barely discernible outline of the Twin Peaks of Kasi blended with the hazy skies.....

These people do not know how privileged they are waking up to such view everyday.

We eventually stopped here for photos.

We got down to the valley, and can see that agriculture plays a big part in the locals' lives.

The " I am an adventurer " picture....

Vang Vieng lies in a valley surrounded by Karst Limestone outcrops.

Too large to be toilets, too small to be a hut, we wonder what these were for

Farang on rented scooter can only mean we are getting close to Vang Vieng.

At Vang Vieng we found this nice motel

Night scene at Vang Vieng.

Dinner was at this halal Indian setup, a chain I guess as I saw the same in Luang Prabang

We saw Laos properly today. The ride from Luang Prabang was not a lengthy, under 300kms.
We took our time, soaked in the scenery, took plenty of pictures. I must come back here soon.

Tomorrow we will ride to Vientiane.

Today our route looks like this:

End Day 18, Saturday, 23april2011

 

[TheTaj]

luv the scenery

 

[Ecc0]

..i wan..i wan ..

 

[deezed]

Thanks for the good read, Nik. Love the photos and write-up!

 

[bazet]

This thread makes my day !

On next adventure you probably mount a cam and livestream to qik.com

 

[enkil]

We want more

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 19, Sunday, 24april2011

Its going to be a short simple straightforward ride to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. We anticipate the traffic to pick up,
the roads better, and the scenery to change from rural to a more crowded environment.
From the map and GPS the roads looks pretty straight after some twists and turns for about 40kms after leaving Vang Vieng.

Breakfast was part of the room charges, and we met our fellow travellers, also checking out but heading for Luang Prabang.

Gloomy start means a possible day spent riding in raincoats.

We passed a couple of cyclists a number of times. We saw none in the past few days in Laos,
and came to the conclusion the flat terrain from Vang Vieng to Vientiane encourages this sort of travel mode.

The rural roads were well surfaced, though the bike felt positively squirelly as gthe surface was slippery.

We stopped to put on our raincoats.

We rode in rain for the next hour.

The rain stopped and we stopped too, at this Friendship Bridge built by the Japanese.

The old bridge was about 500meters upriver, a rickety affair that allowed only light traffic.

We looked with envy when we saw a bunch of farangs being dropped off by a 4wd to kayak
their way down river to Vientiane, about 6 hours downstream.

Another Farang couple cycling along Highway13 to Vientiane.

Onwards to Vientiane.

Rain came again 50kms from Vientiane, all the way till we reached the capital city.

We stopped at the 'French Section' for a quick bite.

On our way to our hotel we passed this 600 year monument.

Our Hotel. USD30 per night. Not really good value.

After we checked in we took a walk along the Mekong Boulevard. Took some pictures.

Day 19 was not a great ride, and while Vientiane offered a city environment that we are more familiar with,
I preferred the ride we did the last few day, where the natural scenery was great, and the people more friendly.

Our Track today.

Tomorrow we exit Laos into Thailand, crossing yet another friendship bridge.

End Day 19, Sunday, 24april2011

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 20, 25april2011.

We left our hotel at about 0800, and headed for Patuxay Park, a Paris Champs Elysees look-a-like with its own Arc De Triomphe,
decorated liberally with the kinnari figurines, a Laotion mythical bird-woman. After the past few days in rural Laos, Vientiane is so modern,
so far removed from the poverty that we saw when riding in areas barely three hours away from the capital city.

It is ironical that the Gate of Triumph, which celebrates the fight for independence from France, copies the French item......

We quickly but 'illegally' parked our bikes on the pedestrian boulevard to shoot this picture before being chased away by the guards

Ivan talking to a Japanese couple riding Laos on a small rented moped

After an hour there we left Patuxai for the border crossing, about 15 minutes from town centre.

We rode past Embassy Row

The gates to the Customs and Immigration complex. Lao side.

Immigration at the Lao side was a 10 minute affair.

The Lao side of the Friendship Bridge

Crossing the Bridge

The Thai side CIQ

We met a Thai, riding an immaculate GSA that looks like its never been touched by rain before,let alone mud.
Incredibly he chose knobbies although his route to Bangkok is on highway all the way.

We also met the Italian again, re-entering Thailand.

The bordertown on the Thailand side is Nong Kai.

Had a glance at my Trip Computer as we left Laos, and saw that we averaged less than 50km/h throughout our ride.

And for the first time in a couple of days I saw 140km/h......kinda cool to appreciate travelling speeds we normally take for granted......

Our next stop was Udon Thani, where we planned to look for a bike shop to fix the leaky shaft on both our bikes

We caught up with a group of Thai bikers riding a mix of machinery

We found this Custom bike shop after a short search. Dealing with Harleys, we were happy to see a cheerful mechanic.

A quick look shows that the leak has somewhat stabilised. We called KL to get some info on what to do,
and after some time decided that a top up would be a good idea. Having no spare seals, that was the only alternative as well.

The wheel needs to be taken off to access the filler orifice.

Done, we expressed our gratitude to the Harley mechanic

Before we left, the shop owner proudly showed me his immaculate toilet. It has a Harley fuel tank that acts as a toilet paper dispenser.

Back on the road, we headed South towards the Cambodian border. Our plan to hit the border direct was aborted
as we could not ride very far due to the heat, which made us stop many times.

We stopped at Khon Kean where we joined a group of bikers at an opening ceremony for the Silver Star Harley dealership.

The Silver Star Khon Kean bikers

We left Khon Kean as it got dark. Although we try hard to avoid riding at night, we decided its ok as it was a dual carriageway,
and it is a lot cooler at night.

We reached Nakhon Ratchasima just before midnight, and checked into a reasonably priced hotel for US25.

But not before some Latte.....

Our Route today.

 

[Abe Jak]

fuhh..i wish i could join ur team bro...

 

[ezzo369]

Nice write up bro... happy riding..

 

[Pneh]

caya la lu CAPT,.....bila organise lagi.gua mau join.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 21, 26april2011.

Korat was an impromptu stop and we saw nothing did nothing but just slept for the night. The next morning we left early in search of breakfast.

Breakfast. Noodles. We also called home as we decided we will again be returning to KL from Siem Reap. Got the wife to book me the necessary.

Nice to be back on Thai roads - never knew I'd say that, but at the same time missing the rural environment of Laos.

We stopped for some food about 120km from Aranyaprathiet.

Saw an interesting artifact, and noticed a number of ladies wearing smaller replicas as some form of amulet.
Surely it has something to do with fertility I assume.

We passed this row of monks walking along the highway

Filling up before entering Cambodia.

Paid them USD10 to hurry us through the border.

Immigration was a breezy affair

Stood in line at the Cambodian Immigration side when this American told us not to crowd him. We just ignored him.

I was told that there is no real need to declare our bikes but I did so anyway,
just for the experience. Met this pleasant Customs officer. Border crossing was only 45 minutes.

Dusty Poipet.

We saw this hotel and checked in. usd25.

Secure parking behind the hotel.

Room was clean but a thin film of dust formed even after a quick wipe of the surface.

We only rode 250km because its my first time crossing into Cambodia from Thailand.
Had I known that the crossing was so hassle free, and that the 145km road from the border to
Siem Reap was smooth tarmac, we would not have stopped at Poipet.

Just a border town with a Casino on the Cambodian side 50 metres from the Immigration turnstile. Mainly serving the Thais,
the Casino / Hotel initially started on one side of the road but was rebuilt over the road itself turning it into a larger complex.

Our Route Today

END Day 21, 26april2011.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 22, 27april2011

Its gonna be just a short run to Siem Reap from Poipet, and we were pleasantly pleased by the quality of road.

The sun however was pretty hot this morning, and we were heading east, so we had the full brunt of the piercing morning heat.

The land is as flat as can be, the horizon can be seen in the distance.

Short break.

The road was so boring so we took a detour and rode on the gravel track that parallels the main road.

For some reason there will always be a solitary tree in the middle of the flat fields.

We rejoined the main road after 30km offroading

We stopped at a small roadside village and had a drink while passing sweets to the local kids.

With a candy in her mouth this girl look so happy

We continued on to Siem reap, passing local traffic.

I was surprised to see this, a baby on IV being transported by motorcycle.
More surprised because in the course of that 145km ride I saw this 4 times.
I later learnt that there is a shortage of hospital beds in certain areas of Cambodia.

Entering Siem Reap

We passed two hotels there, and chose the Brown one at USD40 per night.

The road to Angkor.

We headed straight to Angkor Wat as we were early and the hotel can only recieve us after 1300. We bought a 3 day pass here.

At first we were told we cannot ride our bike into the complex, but after some gentle persuasion and liberal compliments,
the good looking lady in charge allowed us in.
The road leading to the complex was really clean and nice.

The Angkor Complex

Camwhoring at Angkor

After camwhoring we headed back to the Hotel.

The Hotel

Cambodia was a surprise. We expected worse but border clearance was just 1 hour, and the road to Siem Reap was really good,
and i actually wish I was on my K16GT or Harley instead of the GS. We complied with the no lights rule for motorcycle by wrapping the
headlight protector with a cloth. Apparently the authorities there gets excited if they see a bike with running lights in the daytime.


Our Route Today

End Day 22, 27april2011

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 23, 28april2011

Two days free in Siem Reap before we leave for Kuala Lumpur for a week's rest at home. Also a chance to attend
to business and be with the family.
Decided to play tourist while Ivan chooses to chill out at the hotel. The plan was to visit an isolated Wat and also the "Waterworld" at Tonle Sap.
Angkor Wat is a must of course but equally important to me was the Wat at Phnom Krum, a solo hill just 500ft high about 20km out of town.
Its also on the way to the Tonle Sap Waterworld jetty, if the hidden detour can be found.

This is the boat station to Waterworld.

As i did not want to follow any schedule, I got one boat all to myself.

The canal that leads to Tonle Sap was a busy one, and the shallow waters meant the boats have only one
pathway in the canal. Pretty congested.

Refreshment can be purchased from the many little boats that will come close, at times, little kids will jump in to hawk their wares.

Waterworld coming into view

Waterworld is pretty self contained.

Church

Boatbuilding

The 'town' center

Mobile 7-11

just for tourists

Looking towards Siem Reap, the solitary hill where Wat Pnhom Krum is situated stands proudly

Heading back the canal looks busier than ever.

This chap is crossing the canal on foot.

The Boat terminal with Phnom Krum in the background.

Real poverty

the Koreans had a program where they financed the building of small boats for the local fishermen around the Tonle sap.

After leaving the Jetty, I rode for about 5 kms until a small dirt road appeared on the left.
It led to someone's house compound where another trail led to the entrance of the road that goes uphill.

It was a short climb on a gravel path up to Phnom Krum

Wat Entrance

Phnom Krum

After giving alms its time for a pix

The view was pretty good

Waterworld from Pnomh Krum

We fly back KL the day after, so tomorrow will be Angkor Wat day.
I will not post many photos of Wats as the pictures are commonly available everywhere.

Day 23, 28april2011